Posts Tagged ‘smoking ban’

School authorities plan to close a gap in the schools’ smoking ordinance by prohibiting tobacco products all the time — not just when school is in session. The Board of Education had its first reading of an advanced law at a recent school board conference. School Supt. Elizabeth Feser declared that the last policy, was updated in 1999, and needed tweaking. The current regulation states, “Smoking and the use of tobacco product is banned on school grounds while school is in session.”

The new law states that smoking is banned in school buildings, on school property, on school buses, vans, or any school-provided transportation, or at any school-sponsored activity.

“Smoking habit is also banned at any time in any offices assigned to, or any places used by Board of Education personnel, and at public conference held under the auspices of the Board of Education,” the policy reported.

The law applies to the lighting or carrying of a cig, cigar, pipe or similar device, or even the use of smokeless or chewing tobacco products.

Board member Dora Kubek suggested that the new law specify the prohibiting also of electronic cigarettes.

An e-cigarette is an electrical device that increases the act of tobacco smoking by producing an inhaled vapor bearing the physical sensation, appearance, and often the flavor of inhaled tobacco smoke, without its odor or health risks, according to an online resource.

Pennsylvania’s no-smoking regulation has too many gaps that should be eliminated for to protect more workers from the passive smoking, leaders of anti-tobacco groups told state lawmakers at a hearing in Pittsburgh Thursday. Members of the House Democratic Policy Committee were urged to remove the exemptions in the almost 4-year-old law that permit clients and employees in many workplaces, including casinos, bars and even private clubs, for to continue to smoke their cigarettes.

“While Pennsylvania has a clean indoor air legislation, it is not complete and fails to fully protect all its inhabitants equally under the law,” Cindy Thomas, executive director of Tobacco Free Allegheny, declared.

Under the state’s Clean Indoor Air Act, which took effect in September 2008 after more than a decade of legislative wrangling, bars can apply for an exemption if they don’t permit anyone under 18 inside and if food accounts for 20 per cent or less of total tobacco sales. At the state’s 11 casinos, half the gaming floor is exempt. There is no doubt that the “witches brew” of chemicals in cigarettes smoke causes cancer, heart disease and other ailments, explained Diane Phillips, government relations official with the American Cancer Society.

“Because there is no secure level of exposure to secondhand smoke, it’s time to leave these exemptions and protect inhabitants rather than protecting cigarettes consumption,” she argued.

The hearing at the University of Pittsburgh’s O’Hara Student Center in Oakland was requested by Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Squirrel Hill, prompted in part, he reported, by a story in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in April that appeared questions about how well the smoking ban was being implemented. Mr. Frankel told that he hoped the hearing was the first of many intended to spur changes in the legislation.

The Panchayat of Sarfabad in Noida, a village known for its rich history in wrestling, on Sunday prohibited all forms of smoking products and announced fines and punishment for those who dared to violate the law. “Inhabitants caught selling and consuming products like gutkha and kheni in the village will have to pay Rs 1,000 and Rs 500. We will decide on harsher penalty for repeat violations,” panchayat member Sukhbir Singh, the brain behind the initiative, explained.

He argued: “Our next step will be to prohibit tobacco use and alcohol.”

Sarfabad is known for its champion wrestlers. “This village has produced greats such as Capt. Malkhan Yadav, who has won several medals for the country. For a wrestler, a healthy body is very important. Nowadays, many youngsters have become addicted to bad habits,” Singh added.

Himself a wrestler who won many medals during his stint in the Army, Singh declared: “Many villagers got cancer because of cigs. We needed the prohibit to stem the rot.”

All the 50-odd stores in the village have accepted the new smoking ban, burning almost 200 packs of gutkha during the panchayat conference.

“Tobacco business will be affected. But then, nobody wants their kids or family members to be victims of smoking,” grocer Mukul Chand, the biggest gutkha seller in the neighborhood, argued.

Vikram Singh, another panchayat member, gave a bigger picture of the village decision. “Tobacco is not prohibited UP, which has been one of the biggest consumers. By prohibiting tobacco products in our village, we want to send a message to the UP government to take note of this menace and introduce a blanket ban on cigarettes use in the state,” he confessed.

Making the Golden Mile smoke-free could help raise businesses by making the city center a pleasant place to be. A new study has found Wellington businesses are unperturbed at the thought smoking being prohibited in the city center. Of the 198 business owners and managers spoken to along the stretch from Lambton Quay to Courtenay Place, 83 percent thought it would have either a positive or little impact on business, Public health researchers from University of Otago, Wellington, found.

Research co-author, Associate Professor Nick Wilson, declared the study was carried out in light of increasing moves towards smoke-free city streets and shopping places in the United States and Australia.

The lack of interest from the majority of businesses showed that many could consider it a positive measure if the city streets became smoke-free, he added.

”It could even be the case that by making the center city more pleasant, smoke free streets could increase business effectiveness.”

The study results come after Wellington City Council’s plan and policy committee last week approved a new move to make all city playgrounds, sports fields and skate parks smoke-free.

The smoking ban will see signs set up in playgrounds and parks, but no fines for inhabitants who violate the rule.

But while councillors voted unanimously to prohibit smoking in parks, they voted down a movement by councillor Stephanie Cook calling for council staff to examine further smoke-free places, including the Golden Mile and al fresco dining.

More than 80 per cent of Shanghai inhabitants want smoking prohibited in restaurants and entertainment places, a recent study showed, reflecting a big awareness of inhabitants’ health in China, the world’s top cigarettes consumer. Approximately a quarter of China’s 1.3 billion residents are smokers, or about as many people as there are in the United States, state media have found.

Shanghai, one of China’s most populous cities, enforced its first anti-smoking legislation in 2010, requiring some public places, such as hospitals, bars, restaurants and even hotels, to establish smoke-free areas and put up signs prohibiting tobacco smoking.

But an investigation by the Shanghai Health Promotion Commission of 15,000 inhabitants, published on Thursday, found that a majority of respondents accepted a total smoking ban in restaurants, entertainment venues and even all working places.

60 per cent of the investigated people declared that cigarette packages should carry labels with health smoking warning, and over 50 per cent were opposed to charity events sponsored by cigarette companies.

China’s Ministry of Health, in a study issued on Wednesday, warned that more than 3 million Chinese would die of smoking-related diseases every year by 2050 if no regulations were taken, the state news agency Xinhua reported.

Going smoke free in Evansville means, starting April first, no lighting up in bars, restaurants or private clubs. Casino Aztar is exempt from the law but other businesses are worried they’ll lose customers.

Owner Terri Carl of Leroy’s Tavern says that when there’s a big game on, smokers and non-smokers alike, will be gathered around the TV’s in their bar. She says they try to work with everyone’s preferences.

“We have real high efficiency smoke eaters here, so we’re trying to accommodate the smoker and the non-smoker,” said Carl.

Now, that won’t be enough. Monday night, the Evansville City Council passed an ordinance that would make it illegal for all Evansville bars, restaurants, and private clubs to allow smoking.

Carl says she’s already set plans in motion to get her tavern ready.

“We can accommodate our smokers, by having outdoor patios, that’s what we have planned, in fact, I had a contractor here this morning,” Carl said.

But for private club, the River City Eagles, they say many of their patrons aren’t willing to compromise with the new ordinance.

“We’ve had a few members this morning already complaining they won’t be back again, they won’t join again,” said Trustee Rick Koewler.

Koewler says he feels the smoking ban is unfair to them because, unlike public bars and restaurants, they’re a private organization where members pay dues.

He says many of them view coming to the Eagles as an extension of their home and he doesn’t think it’s fair to keep them from lighting up. He says he seriously fears for the future of the club.

Owners also brought up to 14 News that Casino Aztar was exempt from this smoking ban, many of them called that unfair.

A City Council committee will receive a proposed ordinance this week to ban smoking in housing complexes if the smoker is asked to stop by another resident, according to documents displayed on the city’s website.

The proposal comes from the San Diego Smoke-Free Housing Task Force, made up of groups such as Social Advocates for Youth San Diego (SAY), the American Lung Association, Communities Against Substance Abuse, the Environmental Health Association and a tenant advocacy group.

The task force was formed three years ago after SAY San Diego brought a similar proposal to the Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee.

The proposed ordinance has been reviewed by the City Attorney’s Office, and is opposed by two landlord groups that also are part of the task force, according to a city report.

The draft text of the ordinance state the dangers of tobacco products and proposes to ban smoking in apartments and condos if it “substantially interferes with another person’s use, comfort and/or enjoyment of that multifamily property.”

Complaints about violations would need to be made in writing to the landlord, who then would be required to issue as many as three verbal warnings and a written directive to stop smoking before beginning eviction proceedings, according to the proposal.

The law, if passed, would also allow residents and the city attorney to bring civil lawsuits.

The committee is scheduled to consider the item on Wednesday afternoon.